Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Washington, DC – On June 7, anti-choice activists around the country will protest the historic Supreme Court ruling that held that the right to privacy includes the right to birth control – showing just how far out of the mainstream their agenda really is. While the majority of Americans support the use of birth control to prevent unintended pregnancy, John McCain has actually voted to block women's access to birth control. Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, said that voters should question the myth of the moderate maverick that the McCain campaign is selling.

"Forty-two years ago, the United State Supreme Court ruled in Griswold v. Connecticut that the right to privacy includes the right to birth control, yet American women are still facing attacks on their freedom and privacy from every level, including the White House," Keenan said. "Many Americans may be unaware that it's not just a fringe group of activists who oppose birth control. Seemingly ‘mainstream' anti-choice politicians like John McCain are consistently bowing to the pressure of their far-right base and moving an agenda that is out-of-touch with the American public."

John McCain has, in fact, voted at least 22 times against women's access to family-planning services, including birth control.

"During his twenty-five years in office, Sen. McCain has consistently voted to block low-income women's access to birth control, to deny our teens accurate information about birth control and condoms, to stop measures that would require insurance companies to cover birth control, and to prevent funds to an organization that provides family-planning services – not abortion – for the world's poorest women. Voters need to know that John McCain is not only against abortion, he is against birth control."

On June 7, 1965, by a vote of 7-2, in Griswold v. Connecticut, the Supreme Court struck down a Connecticut law that prohibited the use of contraceptives, holding the statute violated the constitutional right to marital privacy. This decision is cited as fundamental to privacy rights, but today, the right to use birth control is under increasing attack from extreme anti-choice activists and pressure groups. This weekend, the American Life League, an anti-choice, anti-birth control group, is launching "Protest the Pill Day '08: The Pill Kills Babies."

To learn more about John McCain's full anti-choice record, including a section on his votes against access to family-planning services, please visit: http://www.prochoiceamerica.org/assets/files/mccain_fact_sheet.pdf.